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Wild Thing
Wild Thing was the name given to a series of robots produced by the roboteering team the Adams Family. It competed in Series 3-6 of Robot Wars, entering The Third Wars under the name Thing 2. Wild Thing was one of the most successful individual robots in Robot Wars, making the Semi-Finals on all four attempts and only being halted by Grand Champions on three of those occasions. The name was a tongue-in-cheek reference to the fact that the team shared a last name with the fictional Addams Family, the robot itself being named after the disembodied hand called "Thing". It is speculated that the latter name came from the 1966 song by The Troggs. Before Wild Thing, team captain Nick Adams was previously a member of the Demon team in Series 2. Robot History Series 4 Wild Thing began its Series 4 campaign as the 11th seed (although this was never acknowledged throughout the Heat), for reaching the Semi-Finals last time round. Facing newcomers Humphrey and veterans The Steel Avenger by getting under Humphrey, before pushing The Steel Avenger around the arena. Then it attacked Humphrey and pushed The Steel Avenger into Matilda's CPZ, where it was lifted up. Eventually the axe-wielding machine escaped and returned to the fight. As Wild Thing was shoving Steel Avenger around the arena, Humphrey had stopped on the arena floor flipper and was no longer moving much at all. Wild Thing continued to attack Steel Avenger as Humphrey was attacked by the House Robots and thrown by the floor flipper. Next, Wild Thing faced newcomers Reactor. Straight away, the 11th seeds attacked Reactor from its rear, almost lifting it over. It then shoved Reactor towards Dead Metal and succeeded in shoving it into Sergeant Bash's CPZ, then Sir Killalot's. Killalot punctured Reactor's wheel and it could only move sluggishly. Wild Thing shoved it around the arena again, getting it into Dead Metal's CPZ where it then rammed Reactor several times. Considerable damage had been caused to Reactor as cease was called, with the judges unsurprisingly awarding the victory to the more aggressive Wild Thing. In the Heat Final, the Adams family faced The Steel Avenger again. Straight away it charged The Steel Avenger, shoving it around the arena. For long parts of the fight, the robots grappled all around the arena. Eventually, Wild Thing flipped Steel Avenger onto its side and, when Steel Avenger righted itself, Wild Thing repeated the move. This time, the axe had become jammed into the arena floor and The Steel Avenger couldn't self-right.The House Robots attacked Steel Avenger and it was pitted, so the Adams family reached a second successive Series Semi-Final. In the Semi-Final, Wild Thing faced the 22nd seeds X-Terminator 2. It had a different front design, due to the front armour having to be re-welded after being cracked in the fight against The Steel Avenger. X-Terminator appeared to be the more powerful machine, shoving Wild Thing into Sir Killalot's CPZ. Escaping, Wild Thing went on the offensive, shoving X-Terminator into Dead Metal's CPZ. Wild Thing flipped X-Terminator onto its back where it couldn't self-right due to a damaged self-righting arm and the defeated machine was pitted by Sir Killalot. In the next round, Wild Thing faced frightening opposition, the 2nd seeds Hypno-Disc. The Hampshire robot's tactics here were evident, to get under Hypno-Disc and shove it around. It wasn't able to however and Hypno-Disc attacked it, badly damaging it. Wild Thing then shoved Hypno-Disc around the arena for a bit, managing to survive the damage being done to it. Cease was called with clear damage done to Wild Thing, and the judges put Hypno-Disc into the Grand Final. Wild Thing also competed in the Celebrity Special with Shauna Lowry at the controls. Wild Thing faced Vic Reeves and Diotoir in round 1, and started strongly by ramming its opponent and shoving it around the Arena. Wild Thing drove into the Arena wall and became stuck, before being freed by Dead Metal and Matilda. Wild Thing tried to attack Diotoir again, who was being torched by Sergeant Bash, but Sir Killalot grabbed Wild Thing, picked it up and dropped it down the pit. Extreme 1 Wild Thing fought in three competitions in Extreme 1. Its first appearance was in the All-Stars tournament, defeating Dominator 2 in Round 1. Dominator 2 landed a lot of axe blows, but did not cause major damage, and missed on other occasions, whilst Wild Thing landed several blows on Dominator 2's wheels with its new spinner, dislodging one of its opponent's tyres. Dominator was able to trap Wild Thing on its wedge on occasion, but Wild Thing also pushed Dominator 2 into the wall and wedged underneath it. The judges put Wild Thing through on the Judges' decision, based on the aggression shown by Wild Thing, who moved on to fight Firestorm 3. Firestorm slid straight beneath Wild Thing and flipped it over before Wild Thing self-righted. Wild Thing's disc slashed parts of Firestorm's Diotoir fur before sliding beneath it and pushed it against the side wall. Wild Thing's disc appeared not to be working and Firestorm flipped Wild Thing over again. Wild Thing self-righted, before it and Firestorm grappled, with Dead Metal catching the spinning disc robot and slicing into it. Wild Thing escaped Dead Metal and Shunt, before being flipped by Firestorm again. However, as Wild Thing began to self-right, Firestorm flipped it again and the self-righting arm was stuck open. The arm propped Wild Thing up off the ground where it was left immobile. Refbot counted it out and Dead Metal pitted it. Wild Thing also fought Fluffy and Arnold A. Terminegger in a Mayhem. Fluffy broke down relatively easily, leaving Wild Thing to fight Arnold individually. Arnold lifted Wild Thing onto its side, and landed blows with its axe, but Wild Thing turned the battle around by opening the pit and pushed Arnold around the arena. The two robots fought a close match until cease was called. The Judges delivered a split decision in favour of Arnold A. Terminegger, partially due to its larger involvement with Fluffy's immobilisation. Wild Thing's team disagreed with the decision, but they did not qualify for the Annihilator. Wild Thing's final appearance in Extreme was a battle fighting for the Challenge Belt against holders Tornado. Tornado's new milling cutter bent one of Wild Thing's side spikes and dug into the wheel. Tornado slammed Wild Thing into the side wall before the two began a shoving match. Tornado's weapon prevented the Adams family's machine's weapon from spinning. Tornado slammed Wild Thing into the side wall repeatedly, before ramming them into Sir Killalot. Wild Thing refused to go down, however, despite the heavy battering it had taken. After escaping Sir Killalot's claws, Wild Thing lost the judges decision. Series 5 For Series 5, Wild Thing was seeded 9th. It began its Round 1 battle by attacking the newcomers Trouble & Strife with its disc several times, causing some minor damage to the green robot's armour. It attacked again, but Trouble & Strife flipped it over twice. However, the 9th seeds stayed on its wheels both times. On the second time coming back down, it caught its wheel hub on the spinning disc of the newcomers, buckling it. The seed continued to attack Trouble & Strife with the spinning disc and pushed it around the arena. It shoved Trouble & Strife into the CPZ and cease was called. In Round 2, the Adams Family faced Napalm 2, a team even more experienced than them. Wild Thing slammed into Napalm straight away and tore off a side panel, also stopping its opponent in its tracks. Wild Thing continued to attack Napalm, activated the pit release and pitted it. In the Heat Final, Wild Thing faced Prizephita Mach 2 in a rematch from Series 3. Wild Thing charged straight away, but the opposition got in the first flip. Wild Thing attacked Prizephita's rear and sides a few times with its disc, not doing any apparent damage. Prizephita got two more flips in, the second lifting Wild Thing onto its back for the first time in the heat. Prizephita flipped it again before it could self-right. Prizephita flipped Wild Thing over again, but once more the seeded machine self-righted. After escaping Shunt, Wild Thing was flipped again. Prizephita prevented it from self-righting and then flipped it onto its side. Prizephita then released the pit. Wild Thing fell back onto its feet and clashed with Prizephita again. Wild Thing shoved Prizephita around the arena for a short time, almost pitting it and eventually shoving it into an angle grinder as cease was called. Somewhat controversially, the judges put Wild Thing into the Series Semi-Finals. In the Semi-Finals, Wild Thing faced reigning champions Chaos 2 in what was considered to be one of the best fights ever seen on Robot Wars. Chaos 2 and Wild Thing spun in circles around each other, but the reigning champion had the first flip, hurling Wild Thing away, but Wild Thing's design meant it could very rarely be flipped straight over, so it landed on its wheels. Chaos 2 very quickly launched another attack, charging Wild Thing into the side wall and almost hurling it out. Although it was unsuccessful, the attack did knock the pit release button off the wall. Chaos 2 flipped Wild Thing again, but threw itself onto its back in the process. It self-righted onto Wild Thing's wedge, but managed to pull off the wedge and flip Wild Thing again, this time causing its opponent to land on its back. Wild Thing self-righted, and the two machines drove around each other, with the pit descending off its own accord, with the pit release having been torn off. Chaos 2 caught Wild Thing and flipped it three times in quick succession, again almost managing to hurl it out of the arena, but not quite. Wild Thing was caught by Dead Metal and attacked. Wild Thing escaped, and was flipped by Chaos 2 again. However, as the pair drew near to the pit, Wild Thing very nearly pitted Chaos 2 - the rear wheels actually descended into the pit, but Chaos 2 pushed back. Chaos 2 pushed Wild Thing back into Dead Metal's CPZ, and Shunt joined in the attack on it. Dead Metal had pinned itself on top of Wild Thing, but Wild Thing escaped, only to be pushed into an angle grinder by Chaos 2, and flipped. However, upon recovering, Wild Thing used its lifting arm to get beneath Chaos 2, lifted it, and pushed it towards the pit. Chaos 2 was tipped over the edge, so far that the smoke bombs fired pre-emptively in anticipation. Wild Thing pushed Chaos 2 into Dead Metal's CPZ, and Chaos 2 flipped Dead Metal out of its way. Time finally expired, and the match went to the judges, who ruled in favour of Chaos 2. Wild Thing was now in the Loser's Melee that determined the fourth robot to enter the second round of the Semi-Final. It faced 13th seeds Spawn Again and S3 a new machine to the competition. S3 got the first hit in, a minor one on Wild Thing. However, its second hit was much more powerful, almost throwing the 9th seed from the arena. Wild Thing then shoved Spawn Again across the arena which, coupled with an attack by S3, appeared to have immobilised the 13th seeds. Wild Thing activated the pit before being thrown across the arena by S3 again, tearing a hole in its armour. Spawn Again was counted out and pitted as S3 knocked off part of the arena wall before cease was called and the judges put S3 back in the competition. Series 6 In Round 1, it faced three newcomers in The Stag, UFO and Vader. Wild Thing began by attacking The Stag, but the newcomer got underneath Wild Thing and pushed it into the arena side wall. Wild Thing got away and attacked the rear of The Stag, causing superficial damage. It then dodged attacks from UFO and Vader and attacked the flywheel-armed robot. Both robots then attacked UFO, which had activated the pit. The Stag was counted out and the remaining robots clashed. Wild Thing managed to stop Vader's disc and UFO pitted The Stag before cease was called, with the judges putting through the two machines with vertical discs. Next, Wild Thing faced the promising 259, the new robot from the very experienced Adam Clark. Wild Thing began by dodging 259, until it was thrown into a CPZ by the large flywheel. 259 proceeded to toss Wild Thing over and over across the arena, almost throwing it out of the arena. Wild Thing then attacked the side of 259, but it escaped. Then came the turning point: after being hit yet again, Wild Thing knocked off 259's drive belt, permanently stopping the flywheel. 259 activated the pit, but Adam Clark's machine couldn't put Wild Thing down it. 259 then shoved Wild Thing around the arena, Wild Thing then shoved the vertical spinner robot onto the flame pit. After pushing it around some more, 259 stopped completely. Wild Thing made a few more attacks before cease was called, where it was put through by the judges. In the Heat Final, The Adams family faced Vader again. Wild Thing charged into Vader, but the newcomers got in the first hit, also making several more. The last hit saw the flywheel get caught on Wild Thing, so Vader pulled it across the arena. Refbot freed the robots, who then attacked each other again. Vader then appeared to have stopped, but it moved again quickly and Wild Thing got its disc stuck in Vader's armour. The veterans was now able to shove Vader around. Shunt, now that the robots were in his CPZ, attacked the newcomers, stopping the flywheel with a blow from the axe and also almost toppling it. After running around the arena, Vader was almost flipped by Shunt. Vader activated the pit with 10 seconds to go, but neither robot pitted the other and cease was called. In the Semi-Finals, Wild Thing once more faced a tough draw against defending champions Razer. Razer began the battle by crushing Wild Thing. Wild Thing escaped and the two robots drove side by side. Wild Thing's disc didn't appear to be working effectively as Razer buried its claw into the 9th seeds again. Wild Thing escaped once more, but then the champion grabbed hold of it again and buried its claw right into Wild Thing's wheel. Both robots started spinning madly in place. Sergeant Bash set Razer alight as the invertible robot escaped, but it was losing control. Razer grabbed hold of Wild Thing one last time. It pushed the now four-time Semi-Finalists into the pit release and dropped it into the Pit of Oblivion. The damage caused to Wild Thing by Razer was almost enough to keep it from competing in the Losers' Melee. Many teams, including Tornado, Panic Attack, Chaos 2 and even Dantomkia helped repair Wild Thing and lent them parts. Despite this, Wild Thing was able to compete in the Losers' Melee, where it was placed up against Dantomkia and 13 Black. In the battle, Dantomkia began by shoving a bouncing Wild Thing into the CPZ. Dantomkia, Wild Thing and 13 Black started dancing around Sir Killalot, all missing each other. The seeded machine was then driven into Dead Metal's CPZ by Dantomkia, who had also flipped 13 Black upside down. The house robots started attacking 13 Black and Wild Thing. Dantomkia then pressed the pit release button, and Wild Thing, who was simply driving away from the House Robots, drove right down the pit, as it was descending, eliminating it from the competition. This was Wild Thing's last appearance in Robot Wars. Charity Events In one particular battle in 2000 it lost after being crushed by Razer. Results Wins/Losses *Wins: 11 *Losses: 10 Category:Competitors Category:UK Robot Wars Competitors Category:Heavyweight Robots Category:British Robots Category:UK Robot Wars Semi-Finalists Category:Charity Event competitors Category:Robots with more wins than losses Category:Allstars Category:Crowd favorites Category:Robots with Lifters Category:Robots with Cutting Discs Category:Robots with Spikes Category:Robots with Horizontal Flywheels Category:Invertible Robots Category:Robots with names based on film and television Category:Robots made into toys Category:Robots that never failed to reach the Semi-Finals Category:Robots with names from music Category:Robot Wars Mayhem competitors Category:Loser melee competitors Category:Robot Wars Series 4 Robots Category:Robot Wars Series 5 Robots Category:Robot Wars Series 6 Robots Category:Robot Wars Extreme 1 Robots Category:Robot Wars Celebrity special Competitors Category:Robots from Hampshire Category:Monster themed Robots Category:Quarter Finalists